Ramona's mother, Margaret, was an herbalist and traditional healer while her father, Francisco ‘Chiigo’ Smith, an O’dham farmer, grew corn, chiles, tepary beans, various types of squash, gourds, Pima wheat, melons, and sugar cane on Margaret’s ten-acre allotment located near Sacaton, on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. Together, they taught Ramona the value of their traditional foods for daily nutrition and as a way of life. Ramona & her husband Terry began farming on that same allotment in 1974 and continue to farm today.